US says Iran missile program destabilizing Middle East
A senior US arms control official said on Tuesday that
Iran's missile program is destabilizing the Middle East and raising the risk
of a "regional arms race" through the provision of such weapons to
armed groups in Lebanon and Yemen.
US President Donald Trump said when he quit a landmark
2015 deal that lifted international sanctions against Iran in exchange for
limits on its nuclear activities that it failed to rein in Iran's missile
program or curb its regional meddling.
The United States has accused Iran of defying a UN Security Council resolution by carrying out a ballistic missile test and two
satellite launches since December.
"Iran’s missile program is a key contributor to
increased tensions and destabilization in the region, increasing the risk of a
regional arms race," Yleem Poblete, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms
Control, Verification and Compliance, said in a speech to the UN-sponsored
Conference on Disarmament.
"Iran must immediately cease activities related to
ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and
halt the proliferation of missiles and missile technology to terror groups and
other non-state actors," she said, denouncing Iran's support to the Houthi
movement in Yemen and to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
She said Iran had provided ballistic missiles to the Houthis
that were fired into Saudi Arabia and unmanned aerial systems to Houthi groups
that enable strikes against land-based targets in Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates.
"We are committed to aggressively countering Iran's
regional proliferation of ballistic missiles and its unlawful arms
transfers," she added.
Poblete urged "all responsible countries" to
enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions restricting the transfer of
missile-related technologies to Iran.
She further accused Iran of "pursuing
pharmaceutical-based agents for offensive purposes", but did not
elaborate.
An Iranian diplomat took the floor to reject her remarks as
"cheap, unprofessional, false, irrelevant and pathetic" and accused
the United States of "sabotaging" the Geneva forum.
"We should all be truly worried about the US representative’s
misbehavior as we all warn that they may turn violent since they lack any
human logic to talk and listen in a normal manner as we are used to," he
said.
